Housing projects get council support for federal funding
By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on February 8, 2023.
LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com
Lethbridge city council on Tuesday gave its unanimous support to three applications for federal Rapid Housing initiative funding.
Three organizations made presentations to council about housing projects aimed at helping Indigenous peoples and others in need of affordable housing.
Total cost to the city for funding the projects will amount to 4,970,240 if all three projects receive RHI funding from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. Deadline for applications to apply for the latest round of RHI funding is March 15.
A presentation by City urban revitalization manager Andrew Malcolm said requests are contingent on successfully securing a RHI approval and that funding be subject to the existing of a third-party contribution agreement satisfactory to the City Manager.
Malcolm’s submission said that organizations with a capital funding commitment from a source other than RHI have a better chance of success in receiving funding.
Three local organizations presently have projects that align with RHI program eligibility, said Malcolm’s submission.
Malcolm told council all three projects are strong candidates for consideration.
Those include Blackfoot Family Lodge which has a total project cost of $4,925,600, with $1,970,240 being a municipal funding request.
Blood Tribe Housing’s project has a cost of $14 million with $1.5 million requested from municipal funding.
MyCityCare Lethbridge has a project valued at $19,969,571 and is also requesting $1.5 million from the City.
The City currently has $4,419,048 available for future affordable housing capital grants.
The total amount requested by the three organizations exceeds available funding by $551,192. That money will come from the funding held in reserve as matching funds for future projects from the 2022-31 Capital Improvement Program adopted in June, 2021.
A presentation to council says “approving additional funds could be seen as low risk/high reward due to the conditional approval and low likelihood of all three projects receiving RHI approval.”
Three options were given to council: approving full funding, approve funding for the two requests based on administration’s understanding of RHI cubic; and approve funding for all three projects at equally lower amounts.
Representatives from three all organizations gave presentations before council went in camera to discuss the matter.
The Blackfoot Family Lodge Society project consists of 12 units on two floors with a total of 24 bedrooms. Its target population consists of Indigenous women in core housing need.
The Soaring Hearts project has three phases and is situated at 830 7 St. N. The first phase consist of the construction of two seven-unit row townhouses with three-bedroom floor plans. This phase is under construction. The second phase consists of the construction of an 8,380 square foot daycare to accommodate up to 50 children with breakout learning rooms and a strong cultural emphasis to promote the Blackfoot culture. This is subject to grant funding approval.
The third phase includes construction of the 12-unit apartment complex that will have six self-contained units on each floor. Council was told the project will be able to house at least 24 of the unsheltered and 35 sheltered Indigenous women that were determined by the Point-in-Time count to be without housing.
Blood Tribe Housing is seeking to build a 52-unit project that would have a total of 134 bedrooms, targeting Indigenous individuals and families in need of affordable housing.
The project would include four units for independent elders, three for young adults, eight for people with disabilities and four for people experiencing homelessness.
The third from MyCityCare would be a 76-unit project focusing on the needs of families, women and children inclusive of diverse populations. It is foreseen as a four-storey green-built apartment building and the first NetZero housing complex in the city and province.
Acting mayor Jenn Schmidt-Rempel said she hopes all three projects are approved for the RHI funding, saying for a $5 million investment the city gets a $40 million return.
Mayor Blaine Hyggen echoed the sentiments of others calling support for the projects “a no-brainer,” adding housing is a priority for council and all three projects are sustainable with no further operational funding being needed from the City.
“I’m hopeful these all get approval,” said the mayor.
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ridiculous – i am all for trying to house people in need, but i am not supportive of funding for only certain people to the exclusion of others in need. what if we had a program for only the non-indigenous? would that sound fair and decent? serving the community means we serve all in need – not just the flavour of the month.
Totally agree, it should be good for people since it is all of our tax dollars. Everyone’s needs to be taken into account here, the streets do not care what your background is. Yes all homelessness is a issue.